It's Rodeo Time

Today was a bit of a crazy day. Danny took the day off and we went took Molly to the rodeo. There were a ton of people there. It was nuts but it was fun. We went to the stock show to check out all the animals. Oh and.....she has cowboy boots. They are pink. She loves them. Seriously. She prances around the house in them and gets really excited. It's the little things. And, we couldn't get a good picture of her looking at the camera while being still. That just doesn't happen these days. We gotta be quick!

Here we go! I am gonna see ANIMALS!!

Ummm does anyone else see how big those horns are?!?

Not sure what animal sticks its tongue out but whatever one she is looking at I suppose....

Ooohhh look at the guinea pigs

Chicks, chicks, chicks, baby chicks. 

Mom, did you read about the chickens like we did?

Had to go back to the chicks. I love the baby chicks! Look how little they are.

That is a big chicken.

Ok dad, thanks for the lesson.

Really dad, I think I got it. You can let me drive now.

Oh yeah......

Yeah, it's as easy as I thought. It's like I have been doing this for 16 years.

One of my favorite things!

Finally! A pony that is my size.

We had a great day. Rodeo, nap, then put an offer on a house.....what?!? I know, it is really fast. This is the first house we actually in person looked at. We like it. There were already 2 other offers so who knows what will happen. Crazy changes.

Introducing.....

William Lee. He is my first nephew, Molly's first, first cousin and I am so excited. He is so cute and little and tiny and perfect and makes cute noises and is just a little bundle. I can't wait to watch the cousins play together and learn from each other. Granted that will be a while but somehow it will be here before I know it since I can't even believe Molly was baby size just one year ago.

While birth was a little rough, mom and baby are doing fine. He is a happy and healthy 7 pound 6 ounce baby boy.

Once I came home I told Molly all about her new cousin and while she didn't jump up and down she showed excitment through chill swing time. Ha!

A Much Needed Photo Dump

This requires tongue hanging outside the mouth concentration.

I love spaghetti!

Gotta go mom.

Yeah, I'm a big girl.

I LOVE my lamby

Obsessed with my wagon

Why did you stop my walk?!

Having way too much fun with my new cup.

Keepin lunch real....

I not only push my car.....I can pull it as well.....ohhhh.....ahhhhh

Dinner was good to the last drop!

Yeah, here is my belly button.

What? This is how I eat bananas.

Almost got it.....

13 Months

Gotta get to my books

Today you are 13 months and oh how much you have changed this past month. Like I said before I am not posting monthly pictures but I can't do a post without at least some pictures because why else would you look at this blog. I know most of you just read the blog because it generally goes along with the pics and that is ok. I have accepted it. :) So, here are some pictures that I snapped today. Here is also a little bit about what you have been up to this month.

Do you want to read with me?

 Clothes:

• 18 month clothes
• diaper: size 4
• shoe: well, this is a sad story. Apparently I have been performing the old Chinese custom of foot binding and I didn't even know it. Mimzie and I took you to stride rite to try on some shoes and you walked in wearing a size 3 which is what I thought was the right size and you walked out wearing at size 4.5 wide. Great.....sorry about that Molly.

Sleeping: You typically nap from 1-3pm. You go to bed around 7-7:30pm and wake up around 7:30-8am. Although, this month has been rough with the ear infections and colds so that means you have been waking up at night. It has been about 2 weeks that you are back to sleeping through the night what makes mommy and daddy super happy.

Eating: You drink 3 sippy cups of milk and eat 2 snacks and 3 meals a day.  You are a snack-a-holic. You would eat snacks and goldfish all day if I let you. Your favorite foods are strawberries and pasta. But you LOVE strawberries.

New Tricks: So many, I feel like you have learned a lot this month. You started pointing on your 1st birthday and you point at everything and you start as soon as you wake up. You mimic me all the time now. I do something then you try and do the same thing. You have developed your depth perception. When you are walking you can tell when you need to step up or down. You reach up and hold my hand now and I love it! You know where your belly button is and can point it out if I ask you. You understand so much. It blows my mind just how much you understand. And, finally you have stopped putting EVERYTHING in your mouth. Thank goodness. I was so over constantly cleaning everything over and over again. You are so close to running, you want to soooo bad.

Words: Uh-oh is your favorite. You also say mamamamamamama and mean it when you are calling for me. It is no longer just babble. You also say do for dog. I am pretty sure you are fluent in Mandarin or Vietnamese.

Teeth: Still 8, four on top and four on the bottom

Likes: Books especially your books with flaps, things that can fit in your hands that you can carry around, lamby, your wagon, being chased, being outside, bath time, dogs, lovie, bunny and anything soft

Dislikes: Getting your diaper changed, waiting for food especially strawberries, getting washed off in the bath, being told no - you are kinda starting to be a diva. You definitely know how to throw a fit now....it is actually quite funny to watch the whole thing unfold.

Mom! Why are you taking pictures? I am ready for my walk!

Oh and to commemorate the occasion you decided to have your first blown out temper tantrum today. It was no minor fuss like you have been doing when you don't get your way. And, I thought you weren't supposed to have these until until the terrible twos.....looks like we are starting early. Grrrreeaaatttt. It involved Lolli's banana muffins and me taking the muffin wrapper-holder-thing (what whatever you call these things) off the muffin.....like normal people do. Well, that was too much for M and she decided that she NEEDED the paper on her muffin. So she cried about it and I gave her another one with the wrapper. She calmed herself down then started taking bites and along with her bites she ate some of the wrapper so I took it away from her. BIG mistake. I should have let her eat all the paper. She cried immediately then proceeded to fling herself on the floor and just flail around screaming at the same time. It lasted approximately 3-5 minutes. It was ridiculous. I just stared at her asking where my Molly went.....looks like she is gonna give a run for my money.

Seriously, you have a problem. Put down the camera and take me on a walk.....please

Regardless of your tantrums Molly Grace I still love you to pieces. It just looks like we are going to have to work on things. :) You are so much fun! I know I say that all the time but you really are. You have the most contagious laugh. Looks like you got that from your daddy. You make me smile daily and you wear me out every day.....girl you do NOT slow down. I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

Molly and the dogs

It is no secret that I used to consider my dogs my children.

The last time we were a family of four. Rocki is masking the
massive bump coming from my abdomen area.

I used to affectionately call them my chickens, why, i don't know. I call Molly goose all the time. Who knows maybe i just like winged, feathered animals. I do call Molly goose for a reason though. It involves silly goose, shortening the name then constant nickname goose appeared. I am sure she will love it when I call her goose when she is 16, 21 or even 59.
She will definitely love it! ;)

Run for your lives!!!!

Seriously run!

Anyway, I digress, back to the subject at hand. My dogs. It is probably no surprise to the all the moms out there or the people that know me well that I no longer think about my dogs as my children. In fact, since having a two legged child I have become a bad pet owner and I am the first to admit it. It is sad but true. Harli and Rocki have turned into outside dogs when I am home for the most part. I used to feel so bad for outside dogs and was kind of against it but now I get it. They just shed everywhere and are in the way all the time so for the most part they are outside dogs. 

This thing is so fluffy and so funny...all at the same time.

That tickles!

Although, for everyone in the family, there is a magical time right before Molly goes to bed and after dinner that the dogs are allowed to come inside. They know it is coming because they just sit at the back door and stare, waiting impatiently for us to finish our dinner (what?!? it is not that bad..... it is not like they sit at the back door waiting to be let in all day long!..... well, maybe they do but that is beside the point - no more diversions, back to the story). 

Are they back here?

Not anymore.

Once they break through the door in excitement that they are finally inside, they lick the floor clean of any droppings Molly may have flung off her plate during dinner, which can sometimes take a while. Then, once Molly is let out of her high chair, they run to find to try and find their best hiding spot. Rocki usually "hides" under my legs and Harli goes straight to the bedroom thinking Molly has no clue how to walk in there....she clearly finds her every time. So for the next 20 minutes or so they spend their time running for their lives and Molly spends her time laughing hysterically because she is OBSESSED with the dogs! And I mean obsessed, she loves them. She chases them everywhere cracking up so we crack up because who can't laugh when I baby is laughing....seriously, you can't not laugh with her. Plus dog is her favorite word. She is always pointing at dogs and saying dog, dog, dog.

AHHHHHHH

So we have to keep the dogs around. One day I am sure I will let the dogs back in but for now they like being outside.... At least that is what I tell myself and I have found myself to be pretty convincing. They do get to sleep inside so I am not that harsh and you can't say we don't feed them because these pictures don't lie.

Today Danny and I have been married 6 years. It is crazy to think just how much has happened these past few years. We have both had various jobs, bought a house, got 2 dogs, went on 4 big vacations, and the biggest....having a little bambino. We were reminiscing this weekend about everything, the ups and downs and the in-betweens. We both agreed that this past year of marriage was by far the hardest year but we think this coming year is going to be our best. We can just feel it and we are starting off on the right foot.

We were lucky enough to have babysitters so we could go celebrate. We did the whole priceline negotiator thing where you say how much you will spend for a hotel, how many stars you want and where you want it. We ended up at the Hyatt Regency downtown, which was super nice. We were in the 17th floor which was pretty fun and they had free apples at the front desk (am I the only one that gets excited about those kind of things?). After we got ready we went to dinner at Reef which is supposed to be this spectacular seafood restaurant. It was good but I think we would pick ToT over Reef. I got the surf and turf and Danny got the redfish with fried mac and cheese. I will say that the fried mac and cheese was stellar but what fried food isn't, let's be honest. The wine was good, of course way over priced because I am sure you can buy it at the grocery store for like $20 but they charged $60. It was fine, we were on a date AND we were celebrating which means it was a double whammy so we threw caution to the wind. Rebels, I know. It's what happens when you have kids, we even went to bed at 10:30pm.....now that is getting real rebellious. Anyway, before that we went to the top of our hotel (level 31) which happens to be The Spindletop where we did some more reminiscing.

The next day we slept in....kind of. I rolled over and woke up thinking it was at least 9:30am but no when I looked at the clock it was 7:45am, WHAT? I mean seriously.....Danny and I were most excited about getting an uninterrupted nights sleep and sleeping in and my gosh darn internal clock wakes me up at 7:45am! Grrr At least after laying there for a bit I was able to go back to sleep until 9am, then I just gave up and got up. Anyway, I digress, back to the weekend, I have been dying to try The Breakfast Klub downtown for what seems like forever. Well, since we were down there that is where we went for breakfast....it didn't disappoint. We did have to wait in a line (I never see that place without one) but only stood there for about 15 minutes. I am glad to report that it was everything I hoped it would be and the people watching was pretty spectacular. Mmmmm, mmmmm, good, wings and waffles.

We had a great time just getting to be us again. Thanks for the date DG. ;)

In case you were worried about Molly......I don't think she even realized we were gone. She was well taken care of and had a great time with Jenna and Reece. Of course we got picture updates throughout because I can't go 24 hours without a picture. I am obsessed, I know. At least I admit it.

Who doesn't love swinging at the park!?!

This girl LIVES to go on walks in her wagon and I mean LIVES for it.

She loves to drop things out of it and say "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh"......

And keeps saying it until she gets to pick it up.

Thanks for babysitting Jenna and Reece.

Now, once we got home today, immediately Molly wanted to go outside. I swear this girl would live out there if she could. So, we went on a walk, played with bubbles and closed out the night with a nice bike ride. She wasn't feeling the helmet which you can attest to with the picture below. She is gonna have to learn eventually....

Then we made homemade pizza, played some more, took a bath then passed out.